


Don't Forget The Person I Once Was

by MysticRose1992



Series: You Will Remember Me! [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Rewrite, Emotional Manipulation, F/F, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Male Pregnancy, Mind Manipulation, Romance, Supernatural Elements, Suspense, Talk of Character Deaths, dark themes, mentions of torture, possible trigger warnings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:54:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27353062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysticRose1992/pseuds/MysticRose1992
Summary: (Fifth Book) Haiden Potter's fourth year did not end well with Voldemort being resurrected and his brother being taken off to Azkaban and Harry's court date approaching rapidly. Will Harry's mental state handle his stay in Azkaban? Will Lucius be able to prove Harry's innocence and get him released from Azkaban? Will Harry be allowed to walk the halls of Hogwarts once more? How will everyone fare with Harry away?Cover Art done by Apofiss: https://www.deviantart.com/apofiss/gallery/all
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Fred Weasley/George Weasley, Hermione Granger/Original Male Character, Luna Lovegood/Original Female Character, Remus Lupin/Severus Snape
Series: You Will Remember Me! [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/411442
Comments: 21
Kudos: 54





	1. This is only the beginning

**Chapter One- This Is Only The Beginning**

Myari sat in the boat eyes glaring at the island that was steadily growing closer. This wasn't right, they shouldn't be heading here. They should be heading to a guarded hotel room, not Azkaban. Myari and her mother were going to check on Harry's mental stability, if he was stable they would proceed to the trial, if not... Myari didn't want to think about what would happen now that she truly knew where Harry was being held.

Everyone in their group had been assured that Harry was being held in a hotel room that was guarded around the clock by Auror's with the only visitors being allowed to see him were Lucius and Mind healer Krystan. Very little information about Harry and his case had been spoken of for months.

It was only a few days ago that Myari had even learned that Harry's trial had a possible date set, all that was needed to finalize the date was if Harry was mentally competent to stand trial. Once Myari had heard that it her mother was the one to assess Harry, she had made it her mission to get her mother to agree to take her along. She would be everyone's eyes and ears to see how Harry was.

It had taken almost a full day and night for Myari to convince her mother to allow her to accompany her, and two full days to get the Auror's to agree.

As Azkaban continued to grow closer, Myari felt anger well up in her. They had been lied to. Harry wasn't safe, he wasn't being taken care of! She damn well knew that Draco didn't know about this, hell would have been raised if he did.

"Calm yourself." Myari's mother said, reminding Myari of her promise to her mother. To get her mother to allow her to accompany her, Myari had promised to not allow the situation, what was said, or done to affect her. Myari closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.

"What happened to the hotel room?" Myari asked.

"That wasn't a lie, not in the beginning." Krystan told her calmly. "He _had_ been in a hotel room, for the first week. It was after they had me come in to try to get him out of his mind, seeing as he had trapped himself in his mind once more. It was then that his magic started to lash out. They became frightened of him and his powers, it was decided that he was too dangerous. They brought someone other than me in to trap him back in his mind once more (causing his mind more damage, and forcing his mind farther back than most could reach) and moved him here."

They had reached the island. Myari shivered as three Dementors floated over to them. She couldn't stop from glaring at them. Ever since her second year of Hogwarts she had gained quite a disliking for the Dementors that quickly changed to hate when it was pointed out how much trouble they had gave Harry through out that year.

"And you've been trying to bring him back out of his mind?" Myari asked as she began to follow her mother, who appeared to know her way around Azkaban pretty darn well, while making sure to avoid touching the Dementors that called this rock home.

"With the help of Severus, I was able to finally reach him and bring him back just last week. Which is the only reason we've been able to even get a potential court date." Myari saw her mother glare at a group of dementors that were hovering around a cell. "I just hope nothing has forced Harry back into his mind."

"Why?" Myari asked as they began to climb some stairs.

"Lucius has it on good authority that this court date is our only chance to prove Harry's innocent. Should I have to declare Harry not fit for court, they will stop all visitations and never reschedule his court date." Krystan informed her, causing Myari to stop walking and stare at her mother's retreating back in shock.

"They can't do that!" Myari cried before running up the steps to catch up with her mother.

"They can, and they have with many prisoners here. Sirius is proof of that himself." Krystan told her with a sigh.

"But Harry is innocent!" Myari said.

"So was Sirius." Krystan pointed out, Myari's mind raced.

"But-but he's a minor!" Myari said.

"And it is only because of that one fact that Lucius was able to even get us this court date." Krystan informed her softly.

"Why?" Myari asked softly as they stopped in front of a cell that had, what appeared to be, over 10 dementors surrounding it.

"I told you, they fear him. He is powerful, more powerful than Dumbledore, _and_ he is smart enough to be able to think for himself. To them, that is a dangerous combination because it means that they won't be able to control him." Krystan had taken Myari by the hand and had pushed their way through the group of Dementors and into the dark and freezing cell.

At first, Myari had thought that they had entered an empty cell (would Harry be joining them soon?) until her eyes landed on a small, dark bundle that was in the corner, farthest away from the Dementors. As her eyes adjusted to the dark cell, Myari was able to tell that the dark bundle was a person with dark hair huddled into a ball. The person's hair was long enough to cover them completely.

This wasn't Harry. This _couldn't_ be Harry. This weak and completely _broken_ person couldn't possibly be Harry. Harry was strong, sure he'd bend but he would _never_ break! Harry could handle everything thrown at him! Harry was strong and smart enough to over come anything.

Myari shook her head and took a step back, tears in her eyes as she watched her mother move some of the hair from the person's face. That was not Harry's face she was now looking at. Those dead eyes weren't Harry's. She was seeing things! Myari closed her eyes recalling the Harry she was used to in her mind.

Bright green eyes that were always evaluating and calculating everything they looked at. Eyes that would burn with either passion or anger. A warm smile that alerted everyone that even though the task a head of them seemed impossible, that as long has he was there then they would get through it. A small body that held such power inside it, along with a kind and caring heart.

However, within seconds, those bright eyes were replaced by the dead eyes of the person in front of her. Myari dropped to her knees. This couldn't be happening. The image of Harry that she had grown accustomed to had shattered.

**~Don't Forget The Person I Once Was~**

Haiden paced his and Ron's shared room in the Order's Headquarter that was Sirius's home. Him and the Weasley family had been staying there with Sirius since their summer vacation started. Myari's letter that he had received that morning was laying open on his desk. He didn't know how to deal with the news she had told him. He wanted to storm down the stairs, find Severus and demand answers, but simultaneously he was afraid to know the answers.

"Does-" Hermione's quiet voice called out, causing Haiden to pause in his pacing to look at the young woman who was curled up on his bed with Loki and Crookshanks, "does Draco know?"

"I don't think so, we would have heard the commotion he would have caused." Haiden told her with a sigh while running his hands through his hair. It was silent as both Haiden and Hermione tried to figure out what to say about the situation. The door opened and Haiden looked over to see an annoyed looking Ron who opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Hermione.

"If you're here to try and shit talk Harry again, you can just turn around and leave right now." Hermione hissed at him earning a glare from Ron.

"You do realize that this is _my_ room as well, so I have the right to kick you out of it." Ron hissed at her.

"Try it and see what happens." Hermione growled as she released her magic the way Harry used to, causing her hair to start to float upwards.

"You're not allowed to use magic." Ron told her with a smirk and Hermione dropped the cats on the bed as she shot to her feet. Faster than Haiden could stop her, Hermione bolted across the room to Ron and got in his face.

"I don't need magic to take your scrawny arse down." Hermione hissed at him before Haiden gently grabbed her by the shoulders and moved her away from Ron enough to slip between Ron and her.

"What is it, Ron?" Haiden asked.

"Remus want to see you two." Ron told him before pushing his way past the two of them and into the room. Hermione glared at Ron before taking hold of Haiden's hand and lead him out of the room and down the stairs. Once they got to the ground floor, they quietly snuck past the covered portrait in hopes to not disturb the owner. Neither one of them were in the mood to listen to Walburga Black's screams and yells at the moment.

They entered the kitchen to find a very tense atmosphere. Mrs. Weasley was quietly cooking, looking as if she were on the verge of either crying or snapping completely. And Haiden didn't blame her. First she is told that Harry was taken into custody and then not even an hour later, after Fred passed out from the stress, is told that not only are her twin son's gay but Fred is pregnant, and all in one day. Mrs. Weasley had spent this whole time both worried about Harry and all that he was going through and if and when his trial would be announced while also fretting over Fred while trying to get either him or George (who hadn't left Fred's side and was being overly protective of said twin) to tell her who the father of the baby was while also worrying about how to calculate another mouth to feed on an already tight budget.

Sirius was sitting at the table holding an empty cup staring at it as if it held all the answers to the universe. Haiden knew that Sirius knew how bad Azkaban was, having been forced to live there for about 13 years, and to know that a kid of 14 was now forced to live there as well... Haiden didn't even liked to think about it, and he didn't know first hand how bad it was, so he was pretty sure Sirius was trying (and most likely failing) to not think about Harry being in Azkaban.

Mad-Eye Moody, the real Mad-Eye Moody, was leaning against the wall next to the fireplace. His magical eye was zooming all around the room. He had not quite recovered from his kidnapping. Haiden remembered the yelling match (mostly one sided on Moody's part) between Moody and Dumbledore on Dumbledore not realizing sooner that the 'Moody' teaching had been an impostor and not believing Harry sooner whether there was proof or not. Moody was a strong advocate of checking out any claim of someone being an impostor, whether it was true or not.

Remus was standing next to the fireplace, his worry for Harry barely concealed. His arms here crossed, his golden eyes unfocused, and his leg was bouncing. The bouncing leg had been a constant thing ever since Harry had been carried away. The second he noticed both Hermione and Haiden standing just inside the kitchen, he smiled a tight smile at them. Haiden was the first to break the silence of the kitchen.

"Is he getting a trial?"

**~Don't Forget The Person I Once Was~**

Luna was curled up in the corner of her bedroom, knees pulled up to her chest, tears falling from her eyes as she stared, unseeingly, out in front of her. What had she done? This wasn't the way things were supposed to go. She had been lied to. Why had she believed that man's lies? Why had she trusted that man? How had he lied to her without her knowing? Why hadn't she sensed his lies?

Luna let out a sob and held her knees closer to her. She would have never helped the man had she known that _this_ would have been the outcome. The man had promised her that if she helped him then everything would end up fine, that all of them would be _together_ and _happy_. And all she had to do was make sure that Harry stayed on a certain path, that all his choices led him down a certain path.

Luna buried her head in her knees and cried harder than she had been. She knew that she owed this man her life. That this man had saved her life when she had gotten deathly ill after her mother past. So she allowed herself to trust him. She befriended Myari on his orders. She sought out Harry and got close to him on the man's orders. She weaved herself so tight into Harry's life that she was almost (if not as) important to Harry as Draco, his _soul mate,_ was, on that man's orders.

Luna dug her nails the flesh of her legs, not caring about the pain it caused. She was Harry's _best friend_. She _cared_ about what happened to him. And yet she allowed herself to manipulate him on that man's orders. She _helped_ that man. And in turn that man made sure that _everything_ that happened to Harry this year happened. _He_ was the reason Harry was framed for murder!

A shadow fell over Luna and she flinched before slowly lifting her head up to see the man standing over her. She didn't know what he looked like to everyone else, but to her he was a living shadow with pure white wings. She watched him kneel down so that he wasn't towering over her. She flinched when his warm and soft fingers brushed away her tears. It always shocked Luna how warm he was. From the fact that his soul was nothing but a shadow, she always expected him to feel cold.

"I apologize that things have to go this way." The man told her, his voice familiar and soothing. Luna wanted to throw herself into his arms and let him take away all her pain, like a father would a scared child.

"Why? Why did it have to be this way? You promised me all of us would be together and happy." Luna asked him, her voice barely over a whisper. The man was quiet for a long moment before he answered.

"This road of ours is long, there are still more hard ships to come. I need you to stay strong, if not for yours and Harry's sake then for Myari's sake, she is going to need you. I did not lie to you, once everyone has done their part then everyone will be together and happy." The man promised her before kissing the top of her head transferring images and thoughts of what must be done next. Luna blinked and the man was gone. She was alone in her room once more.

Luna took a few minutes to calm herself down before uncurling her body and standing up. If she was going to make sure that they all got their happy ending, then she had better get started on everything she needed to do.

Without a backwards glance, Luna left her room determined to make sure her and all of her friends got their happy endings.

**~Don't Forget The Person I Once Was~**

Draco stood across from his father, eyes hard and determined, he was a man on a mission and nothing would stop him from fulfilling it. "What do you expect me to say to something like that? No? Yes? About damn time?" His father asked him, his eyes just as hard and nearly unreadable.

"I'm not expecting you to say anything, this is not up for discussion." Draco growled out.

"Then why tell me and not Severus or even Remus?" Lucius asked.

"It is only courteous, after all I expect you to be there when it happens." Draco informed his father and saw his father's lip twitch upward for a second before he brought his mask back down.

"Are you so sure that this will even happen?" Lucius asked, his voice as hard as his eyes.

"Because it _will_. I'll be making sure it happens." Draco told him. Lucius sighed and shook his head.

"Draco, my son, this is something that you cannot _force_ to happen. If it is meant to happen then it will happen. You need to be patient." Lucius told Draco causing him to laugh humorlessly.

"That's rich, coming from you, _father_ , after everything I've heard about _you_." The two of them became locked in a stare down for a minute before Draco's pupils became diamond shaped, a sign that his half woken beast had risen to the forefront of his mind causing Lucius to look away. "Why are you trying to talk me out of this? Do you not like Harry? Do you not want this to happen?"

"I'm not trying to talk you out of _anything_ Draco, I just wish to make sure that you are prepared. This is not something to just decide about lightly." Lucius told him.

"I understand father, I didn't decide this lightly, I have thought about this since I realized how deep my feeling for Harry ran. I cannot live without him." Draco said, dropping his mask and allowing his father to see how deeply he felt for Harry. There was a heavy pause between them as Lucius read him before destroyed by Lucius smiling warmly at Draco.

"All right then, well, if you are going to do this, then you are going to do this right. You must ask Severus for Harry's hand in marriage." Lucius told Draco who nodded.

"I was already planning to do so." Draco told him.

"Good." Lucius nodded before shifting in his chair. "Right, I did not summon you to my office for you to tell me of your plan to propose to Harry." Lucius paused to watch Draco for a few seconds. "Harry's trial date has been decided: August 12th."

"I'll be going to this trial." Draco told his father, his voice alerting that there would be no discussion, before he turned and left the room.


	2. The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black

**Chapter Two - The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black**

Haiden woke to George's loud, and very annoyed sounding, voice. "Mum says get up, your breakfast is in the kitchen, there are loads more doxies than she thought and she's found a nest of dead puffskeins under the sofa." And with his task done, George swiftly turned and left the room, allowing the door to shut louder than needed. Haiden sat up in his bed and looked at the closed door. George was always so irritable and snappy when he was forced away from Fred now a days.

"What the bloody hell's his problem?" Ron grumbled throwing off his blanket and getting up. Haiden slid out of bed as well as he began to get changed.

"He's just worried. From what I've heard, the stress of everything going on with Harry is making the pregnancy hard on Fred." Haiden said.

"You want to know what I think about all this?" Ron asked as the two of them left the room and began to head down stairs.

"I'm sure you'll tell me even if I don't." Haiden said throwing Ron a tight smile, he had heard Ron's thoughts on everything happening with harry and Fred almost everyday since Ron had found out. Ron was constantly gloating that he had been right about Harry to anyone who would listen, and Haiden was usually the only one that would half way listen to Ron without ending up trying to attack Ron knowing that Ron was wrong and that the truth would come out during Harry's trial. Ron also believed that Fred was an idiot to hide who the father was and he could lesson all the stress he was under by just either telling everyone who the father was or by just admitting that he had slept with so many people that he didn't know who the father was. Hermione claimed that it was quite clear who the father of Fred's baby was, if one just looked at all the clues.

As Haiden and Ron ate, Haiden tuned out Ron's daily complaints about the Order of the Phoenix's Headquarters, Hermione's attitude, all the cleaning his mother was forcing them to do since they found out the date of Harry's rapidly approaching court date, and about how it was unfair that they couldn't join in the Order meetings that were being held every night in the kitchen. Half an hour later, Haiden and Ron entered the drawing room with Ron still complaining. The drawing room was a long, high-ceilinged room on the first floor with olive-green walls covered in dirty tapestries. The carpet exhaled little clouds of dust every time someone put their foot on it and the long, moss-green velvet curtains were buzzing as though swarming with invisible bees. It was around these that Mrs. Weasley, Hermione and Ginny were grouped, all looking rather peculiar, as they had tied cloths over their noses and mouths. Each of them were also holding a large bottle of black liquid with a nozzle at the end.

"Cover your faces and take a spray." Mrs. Weasley said to Haiden and Ron the moment she saw them, pointing to two more bottles of black liquid standing on a spindle-legged table. "It's doxycide." Mrs. Weasley began to explain as Hermione quickly sat down her bottle to hurry over to Haiden to help him tie his cloth over his nose and mouth. "I've never seen an infestation this bad - _What_ that house-elf's been doing for the last ten years -" Haiden heard Hermione huff in annoyance and grunted when she tied the cloth too tight in her annoyance with Mrs. Weasley.

"Kreacher's really old, he probably couldn't manage-" Hermione started.

"You'd be surprised what Kreacher can manage when he wants to, Hermione." Sirius said entering the room carrying a bloodstained bag of what appeared to be dead rats. "I've just been feeding Buckbeak." He added in reply to Haiden's inquiring look. "I keep him upstairs in my mother's bedroom. anyway... this writing desk..." he dropped the bag of rats onto an armchair, then bent over to examine the locked cabinet which, Haiden now noticed for the first time, was shaking slightly, "well, Molly, I'm pretty sure this is a boggart," Sirius said peering through the keyhole, "but perhaps we ought to let Mad-Eye have a shifty at it before we let it out - knowing my mother it could be something much worse."

"Right you are, Sirius, I'll have him look at it the second he gets back-"

"Back from where?" Ron asked hoping to try and get any information about what had been talked about last night in the Order meeting. His mother gave him a reprimanding look that caused Ron to huff and glare at the ground. A loud, clanging bell sounded from downstairs, followed at once by a cacophony of screams and wails from Walburga Black.

"I keep telling them not to ring the doorbell!" Sirius growled out exasperated and hurried back out of the room. They heard him thundering down the stairs as Mrs. Black's screeches echoed up through the house once more: "Stains of dishonor, filthy half-breeds, blood traitors, children of filth..."

"Close the door, please, Haiden." Mrs. Weasley said.

Haiden took as much time as he dared to close the drawing room door; he wanted to listen to what was going on downstairs, wanted to know if it was anymore news about Harry's upcoming trial. Sirius had obviously managed to shut the curtains over his mother's portrait because she had stopped screaming. He heard Sirius walking down the hall, then the clattering of the chain on the front door, and then a deep voice he recognized as Kingsley Shacklebolt's, a bald black wizard that wore a single gold hoop in his ear, saying, "Hestia's just relieved me, so she's got Moody's cloak now, thought I'd leave a report for Dumbledore..." Feeling Mrs. Weasley's eyes on the back of his head, Haiden regretfully closed the drawing room door before rejoining the doxy party.

Mrs. Weasley was bending over to check the page on dixies in _Gilderoy Lockheart's Guide To Household Pests_ , which was lying open on the sofa. "Right, you lot, you need to be careful, because doxies bite and their teeth are poisonous. I've got a bottle of antidote here, but I rather nobody needed it." She straightened up, positioned herself squarely in front of the curtains, and beckoned them all forward. "When I say the word, start spraying immediately. They'll come flying out at us, I expect, but it says on the sprays one good squirt will paralyze them. When they're immobilized, just throw them in this bucket." She stepped carefully out of their line of fire and raised her own spray. "All right - _squirt_!"

Haiden had been spraying only a few seconds, all the while wondering if Harry would have done something different to get rid of the doxies, when a fully grown doxy came soaring out of a fold in the material, shiny beetlelike wings, whirring, tiny needle-sharp teeth bared, its fairylike body covered with thick black hair and its four tiny fists clenched with fury. Haiden caught it full in the face with a blast of doxycide; it froze in midair and fell, with a surprisingly loud thunk, onto the worn carpet below. Haiden picked it up and threw it in the bucket, anger began to raise inside him. Harry should be here with them de-doxying the curtains and worrying over Fred and just being allowed to be the kid he was. Haiden tossed another doxy into the bucket, harder than he should have.

**~Don't Forget The Person I Once Was~**

The de-doxying of the curtains took most of the morning. It was past midday when Mrs. Weasley finally removed her protective scarf, sank into a sagging armchair, and sprang up again with a cry of disgust, having sat on the dead rats. The curtains were no longer buzzing; they hung limp and damp from the intensive spraying; unconscious doxies lay crammed in the bucket at the foot of them beside a bowl of their black eggs, at which Crookshanks was now sniffing at and Loki was trying to pull one closer to him and out of the bowl.

"I think we'll tackle _those_ after lunch." Mrs. Weasley pointed at the dusty glass-fronted cabinets standing on either side of the mantelpiece. They were crammed with an odd assortment of objects: a selection of rusty daggers, claw, a coiled snakeskin, a number of tarnished silver boxes inscribed with languages Haiden could not understand and knew that Harry would love to examine and, least pleasant of all, an ornate crystal bottle with a large opal set into the stopper, full of what Haiden was quite sure was blood.

The clanging doorbell rang again. Everyone looked at Mrs. Weasley. "Stay here." She told them firmly, snatching up the bag of rats as Mrs. Blacks screeches started up again from down below. "I'll bring up some sandwiches." She left the room, closing the door carefully behind her. At once, everyone dashed over to the window to look down onto the doorstep. They could see the top of an unkempt gingery head and a stack of precariously balanced cauldrons.

"Mundungus!" Hermione said. "What's he brought all those cauldrons for?"

"Probably looking for a safe place to keep them." Haiden muttered as the front door opened; Mundungus heaved his cauldrons through it and disappeared form view.

"Blimey, mum won't like that..." Ginny said before she and Ron crossed to the door and stood beside it, listening intently. Mrs. Black's screaming had stopped again. "Mundungus is talking to Sirius and Kingsley," Ginny muttered, frowning with concentration. "Can't hear properly... d'you reckon we can risk the extendable ears?" The extendable ears were a product created by Fred, George, and Harry to help people listen in on conversations that were meant to be private. "I could sneak back to my room and get a pair -"

But at that precise moment there was an explosion of sound from downstairs that rendered extendable ears quite unnecessary. All of them could hear exactly what Mrs. Weasley was shouting at the top of her voice. "WE ARE NOT RUNNING A HIDEOUT FOR STOLEN GOODS!"

"I love hearing mum shouting at someone else." Ron said with a satisfied smirk on his face as he opened the door an inch or so to allow Mrs. Weasley's voice to permeate the room better. "It makes such a nice change."

"- COMPLETELY IRRESPONSIBLE, AS IF WE HAVEN'T GOT ENOUGH TO WORRY ABOUT WITHOUT YOU DRAGGING STOLEN CAULDRONS INTO THE HOUSE-" They jumped when they heard a door above them slam and someone running down the steps.

"Shut up!" They heard George yell. "Fred is do any day now! He's already stressed and worried about Harry he doesn't need all this yelling stressing him out any more! Stop! I don't care to hear it, _mother_! _You_ are the one that has been stressing him out the most here! Yes! Me and Fred are gay! Yes, he is pregnant and has been for months! No, you don't need to know who the father is! Yes, the father knows about the child and is doing everything in his power to help! _That_ is all you need to know! And you, Mundungus, take those cauldrons else where!" With that said, everyone heard George stomp back up the stairs as Mrs. Black's voice rang after him.

Ginny made to shut the door to drown the noise, but before she could do so, a house-elf edged into the room. Except for the filthy rag tied like a loincloth around its middle, it was completely naked. It looked very old. Its skin seemed to be several times too big for it and though it was bald like all house-elves, there was a quantity of white hair growing out of it large, batlike ears. It's eyes were bloodshot and watery gray, and its fleshy nose was large and rather snoutlike.

The elf, Kreacher, took absolutely no notice of Haiden and the rest. Acting as though he could not see them, he shuffled hunchbacked, slowly and doggedly, towards the far end of the room, muttering under his breath all the while in a hoarse, deep voice like a bullfrog's. "...Smells like a drain and criminal to boot, but she's no better, nasty old blood traitor with her brats messing up my Mistress's house, oh my poor Mistress, if she knew the scum they've let in her house, what would she say to old Kreacher, oh the shame of it, Mudbloods and Werewolves and traitors and thieves, poor old Kreacher, what can he do..."

"Hello, Kreacher." Ginny said very loudly, closing the door with a snap. The house-elf froze in his tracks, stopped muttering, and then gave a very pronounced and very unconvincing start of surprise.

"Kreacher did not see Young Mistress." He said, turning around and bowing to Ginny. Still facing the carpet, he added, perfectly audibly. "Nasty little brat of a blood traitor it is."

"Sorry?" Ginny growled out. "Didn't catch that last bit."

"Kreacher said nothing." The elf, with a second bow to Ginny. Haiden hated this house-elf and his crazy muttering, and his constant degrading of everyone. The elf straightened up, eyeing them all very malevolently, and apparently convinced that they could not hear him as he continued to mutter. "... And there's the Mudblood, standing there bold as bras, oh if my Mistress knew, oh how she'd cry."

"Don't call her a Mudblood!" Haiden growled out at the elf and made to grab the elf, his magic raising at his anger.

"It doesn't matter," Hermione whispered grabbing his arm, stopping him, "he's not in his right mind, he doesn't know what he's-"

"And here I thought you were smart, Hermione." Ginny hissed glaring at her, "he knows _exactly_ what he's saying."

"What do you want, Kreacher?" Haiden asked, Kreacher's huge eyes darted to him.

"Kreacher is cleaning." He said evasively.

"A likely story." A voice said from behind Haiden. Sirius had come back; he was glowering at the elf from the doorway. The noise in the hall had abated; they must have once again closed Mrs. Black's curtains. At the sight of Sirius, Kreacher flung himself into a ridiculously low bow that flattened his snoutlike nose on the floor. "Stand up straight." Sirius ordered impatiently. "Now, what are you up to?"

"Kreacher is cleaning." The elf repeated. "Kreacher lives to serve the Noble House of Black -"

"- And it's getting blacker every day, it's filthy." Sirius growled.

"Master always liked his little joke," Kreacher said, bowing again, and continuing in an undertone, "Master was a nasty ungrateful swine who broke his mother's heart -"

"My mother didn't have a heart, Kreacher." Sirius snapped. "She kept herself alive out of pure spite." Kreacher bowed again.

"What ever Master says," he said before muttering furiously, "Master is not fit to wipe slime from his mother's boots, oh my poor Mistress, what would she say if she saw Kreacher serving him, how she hated him, what a disappointment he was-"

"I asked you what you were up to." Sirius said coldly, his eyes glaring dangerously at the elf. "Every time you show up pretending to be cleaning, you sneak something off into your room so we can't throw it out."

"Kreacher would never move anything from its proper place in Master's house," the elf said, then muttered very fast, "Mistress would never forgive Kreacher if the tapestry was thrown out, seven centuries it's been in the family, Kreacher must save it, Kreacher will not let Master and the blood traitor and the brats destroy it -"

"I thought it might be that," Sirius said, casting a disdainful look at the opposite wall. "She'll have put another permanent sticking charm on the back of it, I don't doubt, but if I can get rid of it I certainly will." Sirius glared at the elf. "Now go away, Kreacher." He ordered. It seemed that Kreacher did not dare (or was it that he could not) disobey a direct order; nevertheless, the look he gave Sirius as he shuffled out past him was redolent of deepest loathing and he muttered all the way out of the room.

"-comes back from Azkaban ordering Kreacher around, oh my poor Mistress, what would she say if she saw the house now, scum living in it, her treasures thrown out, she swore he was no son of hers and he's back, they say he's a murderer too -"

"Keep muttering and I _will_ be a murderer!" Sirius growled irritably, and he slammed the door on the elf.

"Sirius, he's not right in the head," Hermione pleaded, "I don't think he realizes we can hear him."

"He's been alone too long," Sirius told her, "taking mad orders from my mother's portrait and talking to himself, but he was always a foul little-"

"If you just set him free," she said hopefully, "maybe-"

"We can't set him free, he knows too much about the Order," Sirius told her curtly. "And anyway, the shock would kill him. _You_ suggest to him that he leave this house, see how he takes it." A tense silence fell over them with Haiden watching Hermione as she glared at the floor, biting her lip hard enough that it looked painful, and gripping the sides of her jeans so tight that her knuckles here white. Haiden, feeling hopeless, reached out and gently laid his hand on one of her hands, she looked up at him in shock and he gave her a soft smile. She gave him a tight smile and released her jeans to grip his hand.

Haiden looked back at Sirius to find that he had walked across the room, where the tapestry Kreacher had been trying to protect hung the length of the wall. Haiden and the others followed him. The tapestry looked immensely old; it was faded and looked as though doxies had gnawed it in places; nevertheless, the golden thread with which it was embroidered still glinted brightly enough to show them a sprawling family tree dated back (as far as Haiden could tell) to the Middle Ages. Large words at the very top of the tapestry read:

**The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black**   
**"Toujours Pur"**

"You're not on here!" Haiden cried after scanning the bottom of the tree.

"I used to be there." Sirius told him, pointing at a small, round, charred hole in the tapestry, rather like a cigarette burn. "My sweet old mother blasted me off after i ran away from home - Kreacher's quite fond of muttering the story under his breath."

"You ran away from home?" Hermione asked in shock.

"When I was about sixteen." Sirius said, his eyes darkening with memories. "I'd had enough."

"Where did you go?" Haiden asked trying to read his face.

"Your dad's place." Sirius told him with a small smile as his eyes lit up a little. "Your grandparents were really good about it; they sort of adopted me as a second son. Yeah, I camped out at your dad's during the school holidays, and then when I was seventeen I got a place for me and..." his eyes darkened again at what ever memory had appeared. "I got a place of my own, my Uncle Alphard had left me a decent bit of gold - he's been wiped off here too, that's probably why - anyway, after that I looked after myself. I was always welcomed at Mr. and Mrs. Potter's for Sunday lunch, though."

"But... Why did you..." Hermione started, it was clear to Haiden that she couldn't fathom leaving her parents for _any_ reason.

"Leave?" Sirius smiled bitterly and ran a hand through his long, unkempt hair. "Because I hated the whole lot of them: my parents, with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal . . . My idiot brother, soft enough to believe them . . . That's him." Sirius jabbed a finger at the very bottom of the tree, at the name Regulus Black. A death date (some fifteen years previously) followed the date of birth. "He was younger than me," Sirius said, "and a much better son, as I was constantly reminded."

"But he died." Haiden said.

"Yeah." Sirius said obviously trying to hide the pain in his voice. "Stupid idiot . . . he joined the Death Eaters."

"You're kidding!" Hermione cried out with a gasp.

"Come on, haven't you seen enough of this house to tell what kind of wizards my family were?" Sirius snapped out.

"Were- were your parents Death Eaters as well?" Ginny asked in a small voice.

"No, no, but believe me, they thought Voldemort had the right idea, they were all for the purification of the Wizarding race, getting rid of Muggle-borns and having purebloods in charge. They weren't alone either, there were quite a few people, before Voldemort showed his true colors, who thought that he had the right idea about things. . . . They got cold feet when they saw what he was prepared to do to get power, though. But I bet my parents thought Regulus was a right little hero for joining up at first."

"Was he killed by an Auror?" Haiden asked tentatively.

"Oh no." Sirius said with a humorless laugh. "No, he was murdered by Voldemort. Or on Voldemort's orders, more likely, I doubt Regulus was ever important enough to be killed by Voldemort in person. From what I found out after he died, he got in so far, then panicked about what he was being asked to do and tried to back out. Well, you don't just hand in your resignation to Voldemort. It's a lifetime service or death."

"Lunch." Mrs. Weasley called out in a guarded tone. Everyone turned around to see that she was holding her wand high in front of her, balancing a huge tray loaded with sandwiches and cake on its tip. She was very red in the face and still looked angry. The others moved over to her, eager for some food, Hermione pausing halfway to look back at Haiden when she noticed that he hadn't moved. Haiden remained with Sirius, who had bent closer to the tapestry, eyes slightly unfocused.

"I haven't looked at this for years. There's Phineas Nigellus . . . my great-great-grandfather, see? Least popular headmaster Hogwarts ever had . . . and Arminta Meliflua . . . cousin of my mother's . . . tried to force through a Ministry Bill to make Muggle-hunting legal . . . and dear Aunt Elladora . . . she started the family tradition of beheading house-elves when they got too old to carry tea trays . . . of course, anytime the family produced someone halfway decent they were disowned. I see Tonks isn't on here. Maybe that's why Kreacher won't take orders from her - he's supposed to do whatever anyone in the family asks him . . ."

"You and Tonks are related?" Haiden asked, surprised that the spunky young woman that could change her features at will was related to Sirius.

"Oh yeah," Sirius said with a laugh, "her mother, Andromeda, was my favorite cousin." He examined the tapestry carefully. "No, Andromeda's not on here either, look -" He pointed to another small round burn mark between two names, Bellatrix and Narcissa. Haiden blinked at the name Narcissa, wasn't that the name of Draco's mother? "Andromeda's sisters are still here because they made lovely, respectable pure-blood marriages, but Andromeda married a Muggle-born, Ted Tonks, so-" Sirius mimed blasting the tapestry with a wand and laughed sourly. Haiden, however, did not laugh; he was too busy staring at the names to the right of Andromeda's burn mark. A double line of gold embroidery linked Narcissa Black with Lucius Malfoy and a single vertical gold line from their names led to the name Draco.

"You're related to Draco and his family?" Haiden asked. If that was true, then why hadn't Draco visited them? Could the Order Members not trust Draco because of the fact that Lucius is a Death Eater? But couldn't they see that Draco would never do anything to harm Harry?

"The pure-blood families are all interrelated." Sirius informed him. "If you're only going to let your sons and daughters marry purebloods your choice is very limited, there are hardly any of us left. Molly and I are cousins by marriage and Arthur's something like my second cousin once removed. But there's not point looking for them on here - if ever a family was a bunch of blood traitors it's the Weasleys." But Haiden was now looking at the name to the left of Andromeda's burn: Bellatrix Black, which was connected by a double line to Rodolphus Lestrange.

"Lestrange . . ." Haiden read aloud. That name sounded familiar, he knew it from somewhere, but in that moment he couldn't think where, though it gave him an odd, creeping sensation in the pit of his stomach.

"They're in Azkaban." Sirius said shortly. Haiden looked at him curiously.

"Bellatrix and her husband Rodolphus came in with Barty Crouch Junior." Sirius said in the same brusque voice. "Rodolphus's brother Rabastan, was with them too." And Haiden remembered: He had seen Bellatrix Lestrange inside Dumbledore's Pensive, the strange device in which thoughts and memories could be stored: a tall dark woman with heavy-lidded eyes, who had stood at her trial and proclaimed her continuing allegiance to Lord Voldemort, her pride that she had tried to find him after his downfall and her conviction that she would one day be rewarded for her loyalty.

"You never said she was your-"

"Does it matter if she's my cousin?" Sirius snapped. "As far as I'm concerned, they're not my family. She's certainly not my family. I haven't seen her since I was your age, unless you count a glimpse of her coming in to Azkaban. D'you think I'm proud of having relatives like her?"

"Sorry," Haiden said quickly, "I didn't mean - I was just surprised, that's all -"

"It doesn't matter, don't apologize." Sirius mumbled at once. He turned away from the tapestry, his hands deep in his pockets. I don't like being back here." He said, staring across the drawing room. "I never thought I'd be stuck in this house again." Haiden understood completely. He knew how he would feel if forced, when he was grown up and thought he was free of the place forever, to return and live at Number Four, Private Drive. "It's idea for Headquarters, of course." Sirius said. "My father put every security measure known to Wizard-kind on it when he lived here. It's Unplottable, so Muggles could never come and call - as if they'd have wanted to - and now Dumbledore's added his protection, you'd be hard put to find a safer house anywhere. Dumbledore's Secret-Keeper for the Order, you know - nobody can find the Headquarters unless he tells them personally where it is." He gave a short, barklike laugh. "If my parents could see the use it was being put to now . . . well, my mother's portrait should give you some idea. . ." He scowled for a moment, then sighed.

"I wouldn't mind if I could just get out occasionally and do something useful. I've asked Dumbledore whether I can escort you to your brother's hearing - as Snuffles, obviously - so I can give you and Harry a bit of moral support, what d'you think?" Haiden didn't know what to feel, on one had he was happy to have more people there to support Harry, but on the other hand he knew how Harry felt about Sirius in his Animagus form, not only, but Haiden knew Sirius was still a wanted man. He stared at Hermione, who had realized he was still talking with Sirius, and the Weasley's in the room, all tucking into their sandwiches. The fear that he had been denying hit him hard then. What if Lucius couldn't clear Harry's name, even with all the evidence proving him innocent? What if everyone was just too afraid of Harry's power that they decided to lock him away in Azkaban forever?

"Don't worry." Sirius said, wrapping his arm around Haiden's shoulder. "I'm positive that Malfoy will clear his name. I might not like the man, but even I have to admit that once that man gets something in his mind, he will find away to see it happen."

"What'll happen to Harry if they expel Harry even after clearing his name?" Haiden asked, Sirius hummed at that question as he thought.

"Harry is a smart boy, clearly magically strong, I'm sure he'll be able to figure something. And, anyway, I'm sure that the young Malfoy would just push up his plan to marry Harry then." Sirius told him with a smirk.

"Wait, what?" Haiden asked.

"Hurry up, you two, or there won't be any food left!" Mrs. Weasley called. Sirius heaved another great sigh, cast a dark look at the tapestry, and he and Haiden went to join the others with Haiden trying to get Sirius to explain what he meant about Draco's plan.

**~Don't Forget The Person I Once Was~**

Harry didn't know where he was, nor did he know how he got to where he was now. He brought his legs closer to his chest as his eyes continued to watch the shadow people all around him move about. They didn't seem to notice him, and for that Harry was thankful, because, whatever this place was, it kept him from using his magic.

"You're acting strange Harry." His brother's voice called to him. Harry closed his eyes and covered his ears. He knew, from experience, that whoever this person calling to him was not his brother. At least, not the brother he knew. "You've been sneaking out of the tower at night." Even through his closed eyes Harry saw his brother standing before him, arms crossed and a worried look in his eyes. " Don't try to lie to me, Ron's seen you and so has Hermione, Neville's even admitted to seeing you slip out of the dorm." He heard his brother sigh.

"Ginny's told Hermione that you've been distant recently. You haven't been paying attention to her, haven't taken her out on a date in months, you've stopped kissing her. Is everything alright between you two?" Harry curled up on himself as memories that weren't his filtered through his mind. This wasn't right! Everything was wrong! He wasn't a Gryffindor! He wasn't a mute! He wasn't dating Ginny! He didn't live in the school during the summer holidays, nor was he enduring torture under the guise of training from Albus.

"Has Malfoy been picking on you again? He hasn't tried to force you to do things with him again, has he? You know you can rely on me, Harry, you don't have to shoulder everything yourself. I'm here for you, Hermione's here for you, Ginny's here for you, your friends are here for you." Tears fell from his eyes as the image of his brother changed to a different one. This time Haiden looked a mess, his clothes were torn, his body was covered in slashes and bruises and his eyes desperate and full of loathing that Harry knew was directed at him.

"You could have saved her!" Haiden screamed at him, tears falling from his eyes. "You could have saved us both! Why did you leave her there! She was being tortured and raped and you just _left_ her there!" Haiden backed away from his. "DON'T TOUCH ME! Ron was _right_ about you! You are a monster! You don't care about _anyone_!" Haiden shook his head and covered his ears. "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! I WON'T BE TRICKED BY YOUR LIES ANYMORE! YOU ARE NOT MY BROTHER! YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED THE NIGHT OUR PARENTS DIED! THE WORLD WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER OFF IF YOU WERE DEAD! HERMIONE WOULD STILL BE ALIVE! GINNY WOULD STILL BE ALIVE! THEY WOULD ALL STILL BE ALIVE! WHAT'S THE POINT IN SAVING THIS WORLD IF THEY'RE NOT HERE WITH ME!" Haiden turned and ran from him and the image of his brother changed once again. Now Haiden was laying in front of him with his wrist slit.

"This universe is unbalance with no way to fix it." A dark, dangerous voice floated around him as a man with long black hair and two unnaturally wide green eyes appeared in front of him, a crazed look in his eyes. "But I can change that, all you have to do is be my vessel." The man laughed and spun around the battlefield, jumping and dancing around all the dead bodies. "If you accept my deal, I'll help you save everyone you lost."

"Save them." He heard someone growl out.


	3. The Ministry Of Magic

**Chapter Three- The Ministry of Magic**

Haiden awoke at half-past five the morning of Harry's trial as abruptly and completely as if somebody had yelled in his ear, heart pounding and adrenaline running through his system. For a few moments he lay immobile as the worries and fears of what might happen to his brother filled every tiny particle of his brain. Unable to bear it, and knowing he wouldn't be going back to sleep anytime soon, Haiden leapt out of bed and put on his glasses. Mrs Weasley had laid out his freshly laundered jeans and T-shirt at the foot of his bed. Haiden scrambled into them. The black picture on the wall snickered at him.

Ron, who was not going to support Harry, was laying sprawled on his back with his mouth wide open, fast asleep and loudly snoring. He didn't stir as Haiden crossed the room, stepped out onto the landing, and closed the door softly behind him before walking quickly and quietly down the stairs, past the heads of Kreacher's ancestors, and into the kitchen.

With how early it was, Haiden expected the kitchen to be empty, but it was not. When he reached the door he heard the soft rumble of voices on the other side and when he pushed it open he saw Mr and Mrs Weasley, Sirius, Remus, Severus, Tonks and Hermione sitting there almost as though waiting for him. All were fully dressed except Mrs Weasley, who was wearing a quilted, purple dressing gown. She lept to her feet the moment he entered.

"Breakfast," she said as she pulled out her wand and hurried over to the fire as Hermione lept to her feet and rushed to him.

"What are you doing up? I thought you'd still be asleep." Haiden muttered hugging her close to him, needing as much support as he could today was going to be difficult for him.

"I'm going to the trial as well," Hermione told him, "you are going to need all the support you can, everyone else is going to be there for Harry, but this is hard on you and Draco as well. Me and Luna have been talking, while she's going to be there for Harry, Myari is going to be there to support Draco while I'm there to support you." Haiden was shocked silent for a long minute before he pulled her into a kiss, but quickly pulled away from the kiss when Mrs Weasley coughed at them.

"M-m-morning, Haiden." Tonks yawned out with a smirk at the blushing teens. Her hair was blonde and curly this morning. "Sleep all right?"

"Yeah." Haiden said as he allowed Hermione to lead him by the hand to the table.

"I've b-b-been up all night," Tonks said, with another shuddering yawn as him and Hermione sat at the table.

"What do you want, Haiden?" Mrs Weasley called. "Porridge? Muffins? Kippers? Bacon and eggs? Toast?"

"Just - just toast-" Haiden started.

"He'll have some eggs with that toast." Severus said, his tone leaving no argument. "If you want to come to the trial to support your brother, then you are going to eat eggs with that toast." Haiden caught Remus throwing Severus a loving smile before turning towards Tonks.

"What were you saying about Scrimgeour?" He asked her.

"Oh . . . yeah . . . well, we need to be a bit more careful, he's been asking Kingsley and me funny questions. . . ." Tonks started while fighting off yawns, Haiden absent mindedly watched Mrs Weasley cook his breakfast when he thought of something.

"How are we getting there?" Haiden asked and silence fell over the kitchen for a few seconds before Mrs Weasley answered him.

"Arthur and will be escorting you all to the building where you will be meeting up with Lucius who will then escort you into the court room." She told him, trying to sound unconcerned as she sat his breakfast in front of him. Haiden began to pick at his food, taking small bites whenever he caught Severus's looks tossed at him.

"The trial is going to be an open trial." Arthur informed everyone.

"Of course it would be." Severus growled out in annoyance.

"At least he was able to _get_ a trial." Sirius said angrily. Haiden looked at him, but before he could ask anything, Mrs Weasley answered him.

"Professor Dumbledore doesn't think it's a good idea for Sirius to go with you, and I must say I-"

"-think he's _quite right_." Sirius finished for her through clenched teeth. Mrs Weasley pursed her lips.

"When did Dumbledore tell you that?" Haiden asked, he hadn't really seen or talked to Dumbledore since being brought here to stay a week into summer vacation, it was almost as if the man was avoiding him.

"He came last night, when you were in bed." Mrs Weasley told him. Haiden sighed and looked back at his plate and stabbed moodily at his eggs with his fork at the same time that Sirius stabbed moodily at a potato with his own fork. The thought that Dumbledore had been in the house on the eve of his brother's hearing and not asked to see him to cheek up on him made him feel that Dumbledore really was avoiding him. But _why_? What had Haiden done to deserve being treated like this?

"How are you feeling?" Mr Weasley asked him and Haiden looked up from his plate to the man. He wasn't wearing wizard's robes but a pair of pinstriped trousers and an old bomber jacket. Haiden shrugged and finished the last of his breakfast and showed Severus his plate earning a small nod of approval. "It'll all over soon, " Mr Weasley said bracingly, "in a few hours' time Harry will be cleared." Haiden said nothing as he reached over and took Hermione's hand and squeezed it, earning a loving squeeze back.

"Don't lose your temper." Sirius said abruptly causing everyone to look at him. "You may not be officially on trial, but Harry is your younger twin. He is very powerful and smart. They'll also be watching how you react as well. They'll be judging the two of you as one. As an ex Auror myself, I've seen many cases where one twin was on trial and they brought in the other twin and however that twin reacted either hurt or helped the other one."

"Why?" Haiden asked.

"There's a theory going around," Hermione started, "that magical twins are one soul in two bodies. It is why twins born with magic tend to be closer than muggle twins. It is also why twins can usually use each other's wands without any backlash."

"She's right." Severus said. "Though, you and your brother seem to be the exception to that."

"That would be because their connection to each other has nearly been severed." Mind Healer Krystan said as she and Myari walked into the room startling everyone as they hadn't visited the Head Quarters before today. Haiden hadn't even known they had been told about the Head Quarters, but at the moment Haiden wasn't worried about that fact.

"What do you mean _nearly severed_?!" Haiden asked panicked his mind flashing back to how him and Harry had once been. How close they had been. How with almost a look Haiden could just _know_ what his brother was thinking and feeling. But that had changed when they got to Hogwarts, no, it had changed right after the snake incident. Had his actions almost severed his connection with his brother?

"It's not something _you_ could do, Haiden, do not fret. A connection between twins (at least the magical ones) are within the soul, it not something one can easily or accidentally do. It would take an inhumanly amount of magic and intent to do. Meaning one would need to have the power of an ancient one and _want_ to purposefully sever the connection." Krystan explained as she took a set in between Sirius and Severus while Myari sat on the other side of Haiden.

"But why would one want to sever a connection between twins?" Remus asked and Krystan shrugged.

"One could only guess. But to punished one or both twins by dooming them to always feel incomplete." Krystan said with a sigh.

"But I don't feel incomplete." Haiden said.

"That would be because the connection was _nearly_ severed and not _completely_ severed. It is still technically there and only working one way. The connection is completely severed on Harry's end but not on your end. Which is why Harry's body is so much more malnourished than yours, and why Harry's emotions and mental state is so much more unstable than yours." Krystan told him.

"What? What does our connection have to do with the malnourishment?" Haiden asked.

"Magical twins share more than just magic, feelings, and thoughts, they also share the effects of things. Let's say we have a set of twins, let's make them two boys, and put each of the boys in two different rooms. Now, lets have one twin get hit, the other twin may not actually _feel_ the pain of being hit, but he'll get the bruise. Now, lets give one twin food and starve the other twin. This is where it starts getting a little complicated. The twin the has the food will most likely suddenly find himself eating _twice_ the amount that he normally eats because he is sending half the nutrition to his twin while the hungry twin is sending him the effects of being starved. Now, let's mentally traumatize one twin with a clown, and a day later show the other twin a picture of a clown the never used to terrify him, that twin is now suddenly terrified of the clown." Krystan explained and Haiden looked at her in horror.

"That's with twins with a complete connection. With you and Harry, your connection is still there meaning you are able to send him the effects of your abuse and neglect. And since Harry's connection was severed he could even out the effects meaning he was getting double to amount of abuse and neglect. That's why Harry is so small and why Harry is so much more powerful than you. Normally twins share their magical abilities, but Harry can't and is also getting _your_ share of the magic and he can't send you his share." Krystan explained and Haiden felt like he was about to throw up. What had they done to this thing that nearly severed their connection for them to make Harry suffer the way he had?

"There's also a theory that hasn't been proven that twins can also share dreams and nightmares." Myari said softly as a heavy silence fell over the kitchen as everyone soaked in the information they had just learned. A dangerous growl suddenly came from Remus as he shot to his feet, his eyes flashing a dangerous gold causing almost everyone to tense up.

"And you're just telling us this _now_?" Remus growled out as Severus jumped to his feet and wrapped his arms around the man.

"I apologize for keeping this information from you, however had I thought that there was a way to repair the connection without summoning an ancient one, that may or may not kill us, then I would have mentioned it. As it stands, there was nothing that could be done and as the twins are now away from the abuse I do not see any danger from it." Krystan stated calmly as Severus went about calming Remus. It was a long moment before Remus finally relaxed in Severus's arms.

"Mind Healer Krystan, though I appreciate your work with Harry thus far, I ask that the next time you come across information about Harry that might effect his health, please inform me and Remus." Severus asked through gritted teeth.

"Of course." Krystan nodded. Haiden jumped when something very cold trickled down the back of his neck; for a moment he thought someone was putting a Disillusionment Charm on him again, then realized that Mrs Weasley was attacking his hair with a wet comb. She pressed hard on the top of his head.

"Doesn't it ever lie flat?" She asked desperately and Haiden shook his head he doubted that even Harry with his magic could get his hair to lie flat. Mr Weasley checked his watch and looked up at Haiden before glancing at Severus.

"I think we'll go now." He announced. "We're a bit early, but I think that will be for the best. It will give you time to secure some seats. I'm sure that with the kind of attention Harry was getting before this that everyone will want into the court room to watch.

"Okay." Haiden said as him and Hermione stood up almost as one, Krystan and Myari stood along with Mr Weasely.

"Everything will work out, Haiden." Tonks said patting his arm.

"And if it doesn't... Well, we'll burn that bridge when we get to it and help Draco storm Azkaban." Myari joked weakly. Haiden smiled weakly as Mrs Weasley hugged him.

"We've all got our fingers crossed." She told him.

"Right," Haiden said, "the next time you see us, we'll have Harry with us." With that said the small group that now included Krystan and Myari followed Mr Weasley upstairs and along the hall. He could hear Sirius's mother grunting in her sleep behind her curtains, and part of him wondered how Harry would handle the woman. Mr Weasley unbolted the door and they stepped out into the cold, grey dawn.

"You don't normally walk to work, do you?" Myari asked after Mr Weasley paused to get his baring before they set off briskly around the square.

"No, I usually Apparate." Mr Weasley informed them. "However, I can't do two person Apparation, and we don't have badges that will allow Severus, Remus, or Mind Healer Krystan to Apparate into the building, so I thought it'd be best to arrive in a thoroughly non-magical fashion... makes a better impression..." Mr Weasley trailed off awkwardly as he kept his hand inside his jacket as they walked. Haiden knew it was clenched around his wand. The run-down streets were almost deserted, but when they arrived at a miserable little Underground station they found it already full of early morning commuters. As ever when he found himself in close proximity to Muggles going about their daily business, Mr Weasley was hard put to contain his enthusiasm.

"Simply fabulous," he whispered, indicating the automatic ticket machines, "wonderfully ingenious."

"They're out of order." Hermione said, pointing at the sign.

"Yes, but even so..." Mr Weasley said beaming fondly at them. They bought their tickets instead from a sleepy-looking guard (Severus handled the transaction shocking both Hermione and Haiden with how well Severus knew Muggle money, as Mr Weasely was not very good with Muggle money) and five minutes later they were boarding an Underground train that rattled them off towards the center of London. Mr Weasley kept anxiously checking and rechecking the Underground map above the windows, annoying Severus who kept telling Mr Weasley that he would not allow them to miss their stop.

"Four stops, Haiden . . . three stops left now . . . two stops to go, Haiden. . ."

They got off at station in the very heart of London, swept from the train in a tide of besuited men and women carrying briefcases. Up the escalator they went, through the ticket barrier (Mr Weasley delighted with the way the stile swallowed his ticket), and emerged onto a broad street lined with imposing-looking buildings, already full of traffic.

"Where are we?" Mr Weasely asked blankly, and for one heart stopping moment Haiden thought they had gotten off at the wrong station despite Mr Weasley's continual references to the map and he was sure Severus would kill the man for that; but a second later he said "Ah, yes . . . this way," and led them down a side road. "Sorry," he muttered, "but I never come by train and it all looks rather different from a Muggle perspective. As a matter of fact I've never even used the visitor's entrance before."

The farther they walked, the smaller and less imposing the building became, until finally they reached a streets that contained several rather shabby-looking offices, a pub, and an overflowing dumpster. Haiden had expected a rather more impressive location for the Ministry of Magic.

"Here we are." Mr Weasely said brightly pointing at an old red telephone box, which was missing several panes of glass and stood before a heavily graffittied wall. "You all still have your codes I gave you?" He asked looking at Severus and Remus who nodded before seeming to panic when his eyes landed on Krystan. "Er, I don't think I gave you a code." He began to pat himself. "I don't think I have your code."

"Lucius gave me mine last night, we weren't supposed to travel with you, we were supposed to go with Lucius. However there was a last minute change in plans, but don't worry, I have my code." Krystan explained and Mr Weasley nodded.

"Right, well, after you, Haiden." He said opening the telephone box door. Haiden stepped inside, wondering what on earth this was about, why did they need codes? Mr Weasley folded himself in beside Haiden and closed the door. Haiden had to stop himself from panicking as a strange wave of fear and a memory of being alone in a small room with his cousin (a memory he knew wasn't his) washed over him. It was a tight fight; Haiden was jammed against the telephone apparatus, which was hanging crookedly from the wall as though a vandal had tried to rip it off. Mr Weasley reached past Haiden for the receiver.

"Mr Weasley, I think this might be out of order too." Haiden said.

"No, no, I'm sure it's fine." Mr Weasley said, holding the receiver above his head and peering at the dial. "Let's see . . . six . . ." he dialed the number, "two . . . four . . . and another four . . . and another two. . ." As the dial whirred smoothly back into place, a cool female voice sounded inside the telephone box, not from the receiver in Mr Weasley's hand, but as loudly and plainly as though an invisible woman were standing right beside them.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."

"Er . . ." Mr Weasley said, clearly uncertain whether he should talk into the receiver or not; he compromised by holding the mouthpiece to his ear, "Arthur Weasley, Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, here to escort Haiden Potter to the trial of Harry Potter. . . "

"Thank you." The cool female voice said. "Visitor, please take the badge and attach it to the front of your robes." There was a click and a rattle, and Haiden saw something slide out of the metal chute where returned coins usually appeared. He picked it up: It was a square silver badge with _Haiden Potter, Trail for Harry Potter_ on it. He pinned it to the front of his T-shirt as the female voice spoke again. "Visitor to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium."

The floor of the telephone box shuddered. They were sinking slowly into the ground. Haiden watched apprehensively as the pavement rose up past the glass windows of the telephone box until darkness closed over their heads. Then he could see nothing at all; he could only hear a dull grinding noise as the telephone box made its way down through the earth. After a minute, though it felt much longer to Haiden, a chink of golden light illuminated his feet and, widening, rose up his body, until it hit him in the face and he had to blink to stop his eyes from watering.

"The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day." The woman's voice said.

The door of the telephone box sprang open and Mr Weasley stepped out of it, followed by Haiden whose mouth had fallen open. They were standing at one end of a very long and splendid hall with a highly polished, dark wood floor. The peacock-blue ceiling was inlaid with gleaming golden symbols that were continually moving and changing like some enormous heavenly notice board. The walls on each side were paneled in shiny dark wood and had many gilded fireplaces set into them. Every few seconds a witch or wizard would emerge from one of the left handed fireplaces with a soft _whoosh_ ; on the right-handed side, short queues of were forming before each fireplace, waiting to depart.

Halfway down the hall was a fountain. A group of golden statues, larger than life-size, stood in the middle of a circular pool. Tallest of them all was a noble-looking wizard with his wand pointing straight in the air. Grouped around him were a beautiful witch, a centaur, a goblin, and a house-elf. The last three were all looking adoringly up at the witch and wizard. Glittering jets of water were flying from the ends of the two wands, the point of the centaur's arrow, the tip of the goblin's hat, and each of the house-elf's ears, so that the tinkling hiss of falling water was added to the pops and cracks of Apparators and clatter of footsteps as hundreds of witches and wizards, most of whom were wearing glum, early-morning looks, and strode towards a set of golden gates at the far end of the hall. He heard a snort from behind him and turned to see Remus glaring at the statue.

"I always hated looking at that statue whenever I came to visit James and Sirius." Haiden heard Remus mutter. It took his brain to understand why Remus would hate that statue.

"This way." Mr Weasley said.

Their group easily joined the throng, wending their way between the Ministry workers, some of whom were carrying tottering piles of parchment, others battered briefcases, still other reading the Daily Prophet as they walked. Haiden caught sight of the headline on the many copies of the paper.

**Youngest Potter Tried:  
** **A Menace or Misunderstood?**

Haiden rolled his eyes. As they passed the fountain, Haiden saw silver Sickles and bronze Knuts glinting up at him from the bottom of the pool. A small, smudge sign beside it read:

_All proceeds from the Fountain of Magical Brethren will be given to  
_ _St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries._

_'If Harry isn't found guilty allowed to come home and continue at Hogwarts, I'll put in ten Galleons.'_ Haiden found himself thinking desperately.

"Over here." Mr Weasley said, and they stepped out of the stream of Ministry employees heading for the golden gates, towards a desk on the left, over which hung a sign saying security. A badly shaven wizard in peacock-blue robes looked up as they approached and put down his _Daily Prophet_.

"I'm escorting some visitors." Mr Weasley said, motioning to the rest of their group.

"You," he grunted pointing to Haiden, "step over here." The wizard said in a board voice. Haiden walked closer to him and the wizard held up a long golden rod, thin and flexible as a car aerial, and passed it up and down Haiden's front and back. "Wand." He grunted at Haiden, putting down the golden instrument and holding out his hand.

Haiden produced his wand. The wizard dropped it onto a strange brass instrument, which looked something like a set of scales with only one dish. It began to vibrate. A narrow strip of parchment came speeding out of a slit in the base. The wizard tore this off and read the writing upon it.

"Eleven inches, phoenix-feather core, been in use four years. That correct?"

"Yes." Haiden said nervously.

"I keep this," the wizard, impaling the slip of parchment on a small brass spike. "You get this back." He added, thrusting the wand at Haiden.

"Thank you."

"Next, you- hang on..." The wizard said pointing towards Hermione as his eyes darted from the silver visitor's badge on Haiden's chest to his forehead.

"Me next, right?" Hermione said stepping in between the wizard and Haiden. The wizard blinked before scanning Hermione and her wand before moving to Myari. The process repeated until Remus, who seemed to make sure he was last, stepped up. The golden instrument gave out a loud and angry buzz and the wizard went into defense mode until Remus pulled down his shirt sleeve to show the man a small, black metal bracelet that Haiden had never seen on Remus before. The wizard picked up another instrument, this one like a small black rectangle and waved it over the bracelet. Both Remus and the wizard seemed tense for a moment before the instrument hummed and spat out silver looking chain and tag. Remus glared at the chain for a second before grabbing it on and put it around his next like a choker. It was only then that Haiden realized that it wasn't a choker but a _collar_.

"Wand." The wizard growled out and Remus produced his wand. Haiden, remembering Sirius's warning, kept his anger in check as he watched as the wizard began to treat Remus as if he was nothing but garbage.

"Thank you, Eric." Mr Weasley said through gritted teeth before he steered the group away from the desk and back into the stream of wizards and witches walking through the golden gates. Haiden caught Mr Weasley turn to Remus and open his mouth.

"I'm used to it." Remus told him shortly as he scratched at his collar.

"It's not painful, is it?" Hermione asked softly.

"It's not actually silver." Remus told her. "It's just, I haven't had to wear this is so long, at least 15 years give or take, so it's a little irritating." His dislike of the statue made a lot more since now. Jostled slightly by the crowd, Haiden and the others followed Mr Weasley through the gates into the smaller hall beyond, where at least twenty lifts stood behind wrought golden grilles. Their group joined the crowed around one of them. A big, bearded wizard holding a large cardboard box stood nearby. The box was emitting rasping noises. Haiden saw the man glance at Remus's collar and shifted a half step away.

"Everything all right, Arthur?" The wizard asked trying to sound at ease yet his eyes never left the collar.

"What've you got there, Bob?" Mr Weasley asked, looking at the box.

"We're not sure." The wizard told him seriously, finally looking away from the collar towards the box as he got a better grip on it. "We thought it was a bog-standard chicken until it started breathing fire. Looks like a serious breach of the Ban on Experimental Breeding to me."

With a great jangling and clattering a lift descended in front of them; the golden grille slid back and they moved inside it with the rest of the crowd. Haiden found himself jammed against the back wall of the lift with Hermione right next to him. Several witches and wizards were looking at them curiously; he took Hermione's hand and refused to look them in the eyes while trying to flatten his fringe as he did so. Haiden and Hermione grunted when everyone shifted closer to them and whispers suddenly started up, and at first Haiden was afraid they were about him until he caught the tail end of one.

_"...werewolf."_ His eyes snapped up and noticed that everyone was now watching Remus who was standing in the middle of the lift head held high in defiance while he looked forward. Severus, who was standing right next to him, was holding his hand and glaring at the golden grilles as they slid shut with a crash and the lift ascended slowly, chains rattling all the while, while the same cool female voice Haiden had heard in the telephone box rang out again.

"Level seven, Department of Magical Games and Sports, incorporating the British Irish Quidditch League of Headquarters, Official Gobstones Club, and Ludicrous Patents Office."

The lift doors opened; Haiden glimpsed an untidy-looking corridor, with various posters of Quidditch teams tacked lopsidedly on the walls; one of the wizards in the lift, who was carrying an armful of broomsticks, all but ran out of the lift and disappeared down the corridor. The doors closed, the lift juddered upward again, and the woman's voice said, "Level six, Department of Magical Transport, incorporating the Floo Network Authority, Broom Regulatory Control, Portkey Office, and Apparation Test Center."

Once again the lift doors opened and four or five witches and wizards rushed out; at the same time, several paper airplanes swooped into the lift. Haiden stared up at them as they flapped idly around above his head; they were a pale violet color and he could see Ministry of Magic stamped along the edges of their wings.

"Just Interdepartment memos." Mr Weasley muttered to him. "We used to use owls, but the mess was unbelievable . . . droppings all over the desks . . ." As they clattered upward again, the memos flapped around the swaying lamp in the lifts ceiling.

"Level five, Department of International Magical Cooperation, incorporating the International Magical Trading Standards Body, the International Magical Office of Law, and the International Confederation of Wizards, British Seats."

When the doors opened, two of the memos zoomed out with a few more witches and wizards, but several more memos zoomed in, so that the light from the lamp in the ceiling flickered and flashed as they darted around it.

"Level four, Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, incorporating Beast, Being, and Spirit Divisions, Goblin Liaison Office, and Pest Advisory Bureau."

"'S'cuse me." The wizard carrying the fire-breathing chicken and he left the lift pursued by a little flock of memos. The doors clanged shut yet again.

"Level three, Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, including the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, Obliviator Headquarters, and Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee."

Everybody left the lift on this floor except for their group and a witch who was ready an extremely long piece of parchment that was trailing on the ground. Haiden saw Remus let out of breath of relief and relaxed a little. The remaining memos continued to soar around the lamp as the lift juddered upwards again, and the doors opened to show and impatient Draco Malfoy with Luna hanging off his arm standing with Lucius Malfoy and the voice said, "Level two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters, and Wizengamot Administration Services."

"Follow me, quick, they changed the time and the room. We've got five minutes to get to there." Mr Malfoy explained and the group rushed out of the lift and followed Mr Malfoy to another lift where he hit the down button.

"Come ON!" Haiden heard Draco growl. "Don't tell me to calm down, Harry needs us and this stupid lift is taken too long." Haiden glanced over to Draco and Luna to see her whispering in his ear. The lift clattered into view and they hurried inside. Every time it stopped Draco cursed furiously and pummeled the number nine button.

"Level Nine?" Mr Weasley asked shocked. "Those courtrooms haven't been used in years!"

"Yes, Arthur, I know." Mr Malfoy told him tightly.

"I can't think why they're doing it down there - unless - but no. . ." A plump witch carrying a smoking goblet entered the lift at that moment and neither Mr Malfoy or Mr Weasley elaborated.

"The Atrium," the cool female said and the golden grilles slid open, showing Haiden a distant glimpse of the golden statues in the fountain. The plump witch got out and a sallow-skinned wizard with a very mournful face got in.

"Morning, Arthur, Lucius." He said in a sepulchral voice as the lift began to descend. "Don't see either of you down here . . . much less together . . ."

"Urgent business, Bode." Mr Weasley told him as he bounced on the balls of his feet and throwing anxious looks over at Haiden. A horrible feeling settled in the pit of his stomach as the thought that Harry wouldn't be found innocent floated throughout his mind. His eyes began to fill with tears, this may be the last time he ever saw his baby brother. Hermione reached over and gripped his hand tightly.

"Ah, yes." Bode said, surveying Haiden unblinkingly. "Of course." Haiden barely had emotion to spare for Bode, however his unfaltering gaze did not make him feel any more comfortable.

"Department of Mysteries." The cool female voice said, and left it at that.

"Quickly now." Mr Malfoy said as the lift doors rattled open and they sped up a corridor that was quite different from those above. The walls were bare; there were no windows and no doors apart from a plain black one set at the very end of the corridor. Haiden expected them to go through it, but instead Mr Malfoy seized him by the arm and all but dragged him to the left, where there was an opening leading to a flight of steps.

"Down here, Haiden." Mr Malfoy informed him as they took two steps at a time.

"The lift doesn't even come down this far . . . _why_ they're doing it there . . ." Mr Weasley panted. They reached the bottom of the steps and ran along yet another corridor, which bore a great resemblance to that which lead to Severus's dungeon at Hogwarts, with rough stone walls and torches in brackets. The doors they passed here were heavy wooden ones with iron bolts and keyholes.

"Courtroom ten, here we are." Mr Malfoy said as they came to a halt outside a grimy dark door with an immense iron lock checked the time. "A minute to spare. Come on." Mr Malfoy lead them into the room room, forcing Haiden, who had halted in the door way at seeing a similar courtroom from Dumbledore's memory, to continue walking. They made it to the seats around the room that were filled with many different witches and wizards whispering to each other.


End file.
